Codes and Emotions
by Andrea O'Down
Summary: Pidge is good with computers. She always has been. She isn't so good with people, though. Or emotions.
1. Chapter 1

_This story is for my very good friend Nico whose constant talk about PidgeXLance made me watch Voltron and then I fell in love with these two. So, Nico, this is your fault! Thank you so much for it! ;)_  
 _I might turn this story into a multichapter when I have more time, so stay tuned. For now, it's a one-shot because I need to finish some other stories first. I hope you enjoy this little story of mine. :)_

* * *

Pidge has always been good with computers. Computers are easy. All you need to know is numbers and algorithms and formulas and code, of course, but that's it. Easy-peasy. A computer does what you tell it to do. No room for interpretation. Tell it to mark something in blue and it's going to mark something in blue. Not blue with a tint of green or so. No, blue. Just blue. Tell it to search for a certain piece of code, and it's going to do exactly that. Not looking for something else along the way. No, just this piece of code. Nothing more, nothing less. Easy.

Computers, Pidge can figure out. The same rules apply across the universe, she realized. No matter how advanced the technology is, she can start with what she's learned from computers on Earth and go from there. And she's _good_.

What's she's not good with are people. They are complicated. Too many variables involved.

Now, she's the last one to back off when it comes to variables. Actually, there can't be enough variables when it comes to decoding some computer-code. The more, the greater the challenge. And she loves challenges.

But decoding people is not a challenge. It's difficult. And there's no end in sight. When she thinks she's figured out one thing, these unforeseen variables act up and something happens she just didn't see coming.

That doesn't happen with computers. Okay, it sometimes happens with viruses, but when she has a closer look, she knows why it's happened.

With people, she doesn't know. Not really.

People have too many emotions, and emotions, she just can't get a hold of them. Emotions tend to change, and they tend to do that whenever she thinks she's finally figured them out.

And she is no exception. Her own emotions do that to her. And she hates that even more. She can live with not being able to understand why Keith is ticked off by Lance exactly that moment and not two minutes earlier like she thought he would be. Or why Coran starts telling stories about his time at boot camp just now and not yesterday.

No, she can handle that. That's what living with people is like. That's what having friends is like.

But she hasn't figured out when people you just barely know become friends. It just happens. Suddenly, she realizes that she cares about them and that she'd do anything to protect them. Suddenly, they are friends.

She's made her peace with that. Can't be changed, anyway.

But what's really bothering her right now, is that something else has changed. And she has no idea why. She has no idea when Lance's flirting with cute girls has turned from annoying her into making her angry. Really, really angry.

Now it doesn't just lead to an urge to roll her eyes or facepalm; no, now she wants to outright slap him, make him snap out of it.

And it makes no sense.

Because nothing has changed. He's still Lance, her friend, a friend who sometimes annoys her, but whom she can rely on when she really needs him. She knows for sure he'd ditch any cute girl if she asks for his help.

But now she finds her eyes drift over to Lance talking to a bunch of alien girls. And like always, he's posing and smiling, and Pidge waits for her hand to slap against her forehead because that's what it usually does. What it should do.

And what it doesn't.

No, instead her hand balls into a fist as the anger rises in her chest. It's been like that the last time, but Pidge has tried to tell herself that has just been an accident, a glitch.

But now it happens again. And Pidge hates it. Can't emotions be _any_ easier?

She should probably run a few more tests to see if this anger-thing is always going to happen when Lance is flirting with a girl. She should probably keep a record on that to figure it out. She should probably just go and leave it to Lance to make a fool of himself.

Instead, she takes a step closer to Lance and the girls.

"Hey, Lance!" she calls over to him. "Can you help me with something?"

"Sorry, ladies!" Lance tells the girls. "My friend needs me!" He winks at them, and Pidge clenches her fist even tighter. Then Lance turns around and walks over to her.

"What is it, Pidge?" he asks.

It's the moment she realizes she has no idea what Lance could actually help her with. See, that's the thing with emotions. They sometimes make you say stupid things.

"Uhm, I-," she begins. _Come on, Pidge, think! You're terrible with emotions, but you at least know how to think. You're good at thinking! Come on!_

Something clicks in her brain. It's a good thing they are at the Space Mall again and she remembers some of the shops. They just need to avoid that security guard. Which has been easy so far.

"I found something in the shops that might come in handy," she says.

"And you don't have the money? On it!" Lance replies, already on his way to the fountain.

"No!" Pidge calls out, grabbing his arm to stop him. "This time, I came prepared. Coran gave me some money. It's just that this thing is too heavy for me to carry."

"Shouldn't you ask Hunk for help, then? He's the guy for carrying stuff."

"And make him leave the kitchen of his favorite restaurant? I don't think so!"

"You have a point," Lance says with a shrug. "Now, where is this thing?"

"Over there!" She points in a direction where she knows some shops for technical equipment are.

"Alright-y then!" Lance says and sets into motion. Pidge has trouble keeping up at first. It's a good thing she's still holding on to his arm.

Wait, why _exactly_ is she still holding on to his arm? That doesn't make any sense either. Okay, maybe she knew beforehand that she would have trouble to keep up with Lance because he always strides out. Yes, that must be it.

But then Lance slows down a bit, adjusting his steps to Pidge's smaller ones.

Pidge lets out a relieved sigh. Now, she only needs to figure out what exactly she wants to buy. But that should be easy. She only needs to think. And she's good at thinking.

 _Okay, Pidge, think. Think! Wait, why am I still holding on to Lance's arm?_


	2. Chapter 2

_Well, Nico did it again. Because of her undying love for PidgeXLance, I just HAD to write more to this. XD Hope you like it, Nico! *hugs* Remember, this is all your fault. ;P_

* * *

Pidge lets her fingers slide over the big, box-shaped gadget. If she got it right, it's some sort of a transmitter, but of course, she couldn't ask the vendor too much about it. She had to give the impression that she knew what she was doing. Because Lance was there. And Lance thought that, in fact, she knew what she was doing, that she actually wanted to buy this gadget and exactly this gadget because she needed it and not because it was the only object in the shop that was big enough to cover her _too heavy for her to carry it_ -excuse.

It worked, somehow. Lance didn't seem to realize that it took her a bit too long to find the gadget she absolutely needed, but that's the good thing about Lance. He's credulous and he doesn't ask too many questions. Besides, he's easily distracted. And it helped a lot that the shop was full of shiny things. So he didn't get suspicious when Pidge talked to the vendor about the gadget.

And now it's here, sitting on her desk, and she has absolutely no idea how she can put it into use. But granted, it was funny how Lance kept complaining about its weight when he was carrying it to the gathering place and how he hates that Hunk wasn't there, but whenever Pidge tried to help him carry it, he shoved her away. And then he even carried the gadget to her lab, although Hunk was back and could have carried it then. But Pidge was thankful for that. Hunk would have asked questions about the gadget and why she needed it, and Lance didn't.

And now she's sitting here, trying to figure out how to use this transmitter. And she has no idea. She should be working on so many other things like decoding some Galra-code or looking for her family, and instead, she's trying to see how she can put some transmitter she absolutely did _not_ need to use just because she got overwhelmed by her emotions. Her totally unnecessary, totally illogical emotions.

She still doesn't get how Lance's flirting went from annoying her to making her feel angry. And making her say stupid things. Like she found a gadget she needs and can't carry because it's too heavy.

But she can't think about that now. Not about her stupid idea of buying this stupid gadget, not about her stupid emotions doing stupid things.

Because it's all so stupid, and Pidge hates being stupid. She's intelligent, she's smart. She's anything _but_ stupid!

She lets out a frustrated groan.

 _Okay, let's get to work, Pidge, some unnecessary work, but work nonetheless…_

* * *

She doesn't know how many hours have passed, but it must have been hours because at some point, she sat down on the floor with her computer in her lap, and she only does that when she gets tired from standing. And that usually takes hours.

When she started working with that transmitter she made that mental note that she'd only spend ten minutes or so on it and if she couldn't get anything out from it, she'd do something else. And if Lance or someone else asked about it, she'd say she accidentally broke it.

But after five minutes of working with the transmitter, the ideas started to form in her head, the ideas on how she could actually use it. And they wouldn't stop. The problem was she had to settle for one idea, and it took her some time to figure out which idea would work best. She had to do some calculations on that, but then she finally got it. She could use this transmitter to help her with some distress signals. And now she's working on a program to get it done. And she's making good progress.

Only her aching back told her at some point that she must have been working for hours. To her, it has only been minutes.

Time flies when you're having fun, right?

"Pidge?!" she hears someone call her name, and she jumps, immediately turning her head to find Lance standing a few steps away from her.

"Geez, Lance! You want to give me a heart attack?" she asks.

"You're too young to have a heart attack," Lance replies. "Besides, I addressed you three times, but you didn't reply."

"Oh." Pidge lowers her eyes. That's typical. Sometimes, she gets so absorbed in her work that she doesn't realize when someone's approaching. Not good, given the fact that she's working in the rebellion against Zarkon and someone might sneak up on her to kill her one day. Maybe she should work on a proper security system around her work station.

"Pidge?" Lance addresses her again, and there's something in his voice, something that sounds like concern. It makes Pidge's heart do a little jump which she really can't explain. She lifts her gaze again to meet his eyes.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you," she says with a little shrug. "Do you need something?"

"Nah, not really," Lance says.

Pidge frowns at that. "Then what are you doing here?"

Lance lowers his eyes, rubbing over the back of his neck with a hand, and he has this sheepish look on his face that makes Pidge want to smile. She doesn't, though, just intensifies her frown.

"I-I can't sleep," he finally says.

"Oh," Pidge mumbles again because she has no idea what else to say.

"And I thought if someone's still up, then it's you, and -" He breaks off, taking a deep breath. "I don't know. Sometimes, it's just too quiet around here."

"Doesn't your music help?" she asks, knowing of his habit of sleeping with the headphones she gave him on and listening to relaxing music.

"Not always," Lance replies. "Not for the past few nights, at least. I guess, sometimes, I just need to know that someone's around." He pauses for a moment before he raises his gaze to look at her. "Do you think I could stay here for a bit?"

"But I can't talk to you, Lance," Pidge says. "I have work to do."

"That's fine," Lance replies. "Can I still stay?"

Pidge twists her mouth. "I don't know."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeease?" Lance asks, his mouth turning into a big, begging smile.

Pidge sighs. "Okay."

"Great! Thank you, Pidge!" He beams at her.

"Don't mention it," she replies before she turns back to her computer.

She expects Lance to lean against her desk or maybe sit down next to her, but the movement she sees from the corner of her eye doesn't meet that expectation, so she glances up from her computer to look at Lance again. He's taken off his jacket and is now balling it up. Then he stretches out on the floor, sliding the balled-up jacket under his head as a makeshift pillow.

"You are going to catch a cold sleeping on the floor like that," Pidge states.

"Says the girl sitting on said floor for hours now," Lance responds with a little chuckle.

Pidge shrugs. "I'm used to it."

"If you say so," Lance replies. "Besides, I don't plan on sleeping here, just lying here till I am relaxed enough to go to bed."

"Okay," Pidge says, turning her attention back to her computer. "But don't complain when you catch a cold nonetheless."

"Won't," Lance replies.

Pidge concentrates on writing her program again, but her eyes somehow shift back to Lance after a little while. He has his eyes closed and looks so relaxed that it makes a warm feeling spread in Pidge's chest.

"Lance?" she asks carefully, remembering that Lance said he didn't plan to sleep here. He doesn't react.

"Lance?" she asks a little louder.

Still, Lance doesn't react, and his steady breathing tells Pidge that he must be fast asleep. She bites down on her lower lip. She should wake him up, shouldn't she?

And then she remembers something. That Lance hasn't slept properly for the past few nights. And she realizes she can't wake him like that. He looks so calm and peaceful and handsome - no, _no!_ She did _not_ just think that! No, he looks so calm and peaceful and … and relaxed that she can't wake him. He needs to get some sleep. Yep, that sounds about right.

She turns her attention back to her computer, but every once in a while she looks over to Lance, who's still sleeping.

He's most definitely going to catch a cold, Pidge decides. It makes her chest tighten a bit with worry, but when she looks at Lance, there's this warm feeling around her heart, too, and it all makes no sense. Fact is, she just doesn't have the heart to wake him up.

 _Ugh, emotions,_ Pidge thinks as she turns back to the program she's working on. _Why can't they be as easy and straightforward as computer codes?_


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning Pidge is seated at the table, eating her breakfast and trying her best to ignore her aching back. Really, she doesn't get it. She's used to sitting on the floor for hours. Her back shouldn't be aching. Okay, it shouldn't be aching _that_ much.

Her only relief is that Lance must be feeling even worse. Well, that's not entirely true. She's concerned, and she doesn't want him to be in pain, but on the other hand, it's kind of nice to know that someone else shares her pain.

And then Lance enters the room with such a big smile on his face and he's wandering around with absolutely no sign of pain. Pidge blinks a few times to make sure she hasn't fallen asleep or something. But no matter how much she blinks, Lance is there, smiling and moving and definitely not being in pain.

That's just … not fair, Pidge thinks as she twists her mouth before she turns her attention back to her cup of tea.

But now that she thinks of it, when Lance woke up - surprisingly, it was at the exact same moment she put aside her computer and got to her feet - he just stood up, stretched once before he grabbed his jacket, leisurely flicking it over his shoulder, and then he wished her a good night with a smile and left. And Pidge just stood there, stretching once, twice and a third time before she dared to move, and even then she had to stop every few steps to stretch again, and still, when she reached her room, her back was aching. And when she woke up in the morning, it was still aching.

And even now it's aching. And there is Lance beaming and humming a melody and Pidge lets out a frustrated sigh before she raises her cup to her lips to take a sip. But before she can do that she feels the urge to sneeze. She can fight it down, though, and all that's left is a sniffle.

Great! Now she might have caught a cold, too!

* * *

After a day of training, Pidge literally crawls out of her lion. When she sees Coran standing in the hangar, she tries to straighten her back as much as she can, putting a smile on her face. Okay, it's more like forcing the corners of her mouth up, but still.

"What's up, Coran?" she asks, hoping it doesn't show that keeping the corners of her mouth in that position literally hurts.

"Oh, nothing, Number Five," Coran replies, and Pidge waits for her eyes to automatically roll at the nickname he gave her a while ago, but they don't, and she realizes that she doesn't find it that annoying anymore.

Must be another thing that has changed, Pidge ponders. She isn't sure if she likes it, though. Emotions just shift too easily for her taste.

"It's just that I thought you might need this," Coran goes on before he rolls an office chair to her work station.

"Oh?" Pidge's eyes widen. "Why's that?"

"Well, I thought that it must be exhausting after a while when you have to stand here while working," Coran replies.

Pidge twists her mouth at that. Coran is caring and all, but Pidge is pretty sure she's been doing a great job on hiding her pain. Because really, not even Shiro realized anything and Shiro is usually the first one to realize things like that.

Coran looks at her with a smile, and Pidge can't help but return the smile as she lets herself slump down on her new chair. She shifts her body a bit to get into a comfortable position, then lets out a relieved sigh when she finds it.

"Thanks, Coran!" she says.

"You're welcome!" Coran replies before he gives her shoulder a pat. But somehow, he lets his hand linger there, and Pidge turns her head to look at him.

"Yes?" she asks.

"Well, uhm…," Coran begins before he clears his throat. "Nothing," he says, giving her shoulder another pat and then he leaves.

Pidge watches him with a frown. That was … unusual. She isn't that good in reading other people's emotions, but she thinks it's safe to say that Coran wanted to tell her something else. Should she ask about it? She isn't sure. And she has work to do. So she decides against it.

* * *

Pidge is so absorbed in her work again that she doesn't realize how much time has passed. And with this new office chair it's even harder to tell. No tired legs or aching back or both that force her to sit down.

She finished the new program yesterday, but she can't say she's short of work ever since she landed on this ship. And that's fine with her. Her brain needs to be occupied or it doesn't work properly.

"Pidge?" someone asks, and Pidge has to give it to herself, she doesn't jump this time. Besides, she recognizes that voice immediately. It's Lance.

"Yes, Lance?" she asks, turning to look at him. She frowns a bit when she sees he's holding a steaming cup in his hand.

"So, you have a chair now?" he asks as he steps closer, smiling at her.

"Yes," Pidge replies, her frown deepening, and then something clicks together in her brain.

Lance sleeping on the floor of her work station, Coran giving her a chair, Coran giving her a chair _after_ Lance was sleeping on the floor of her work station.

"It was _you!_ " she calls out.

"What?" Lance asks, but his smile grows only broader, telling Pidge that she's on the right track.

" _You_ told Coran that I need a chair, didn't you?" She doesn't even try to put it as a question, it's a statement.

Lance shrugs, his smile growing a tint broader, something Pidge didn't think was possible. Doesn't his face hurt from smiling like that?

"Only a little thank-you because you let me stay here yesterday," he explains. "It was hard to miss that your back was aching."

Pidge twists her mouth a little. It all makes sense now. Lance saw her stretching her back over and over and over yesterday. She isn't so sure if she likes it. Although it does make a warm feeling spread in her chest.

Then Lance places the steaming cup next to Pidge's computer. "And this is a little thank-you if you let me stay here for a bit tonight as well," he says.

Pidge looks from the cup to Lance's face and back to her cup.

"What?" she asks.

"Don't think I missed that little sniffle during breakfast this morning," Lance goes on.

Pidge looks at Lance again, her eyes wide. Does Lance really pay that much attention to her? On the other hand, Lance really cares about his friends, so that's probably a general thing and has nothing to do with her especially. It still leads to another wave of warmth in her chest.

"So I get that you're having trouble falling asleep again?" Pidge asks, grabbing the cup of tea and taking a long sip. It's only now that she realizes how dry her mouth is. Which means she must have been breathing through her mouth for a while now. Which means that it's difficult to breathe through her nose. Which means she really has caught a cold. _Great!_

The steam of the tea makes it easier to breathe, though, but still, that's just _great..._

She looks up at Lance again. He shrugs. "Maybe." He pauses for a second before he goes on. "Sooooo," he drawls, "can I stay?"

"Sure," Pidge answers with a shrug.

"Great!" Lance replies, beaming at her. Then he slides out of his jacket, balls it up and shoves it under his head as he stretches out on the floor.

"You probably should bring a blanket next time," she says. "You might catch a cold."

Lance chuckles. "Says the girl who's used to it."

Pidge can't help but laugh a little, too.

"Soooo, you said 'next time'," Lance says. "Does this mean I can come here more often?"

"I guess?" Pidge replies.

"Good," Lance says. "This is kinda nice, you know?"

"Yes, yes, it is," Pidge responds. Then it hits her what she's just said, and she quickly looks at Lance, but he has already closed his eyes.

Pidge lets out a silent sigh and turns back to her computer. But before she takes up the work on the Galra-code again, she takes another sip of her tea. She hasn't realized before, but her cheeks are burning. Must be because of the tea, right?


	4. Chapter 4

_Guess what? Nico made an awesome cover for this story! It's so beautiful, and I love it! ^^ Thank you, Nico! *hugs* Please check out her art on her tumblr (nicollini). It's amazing! ^^_

 _By the way, this chapter turned out way longer than the chapters before. Sorry for that! But there was just more to tell. Have fun reading! ^^_

* * *

Pidge can't say why, but somehow, over the next three days, Lance shows up every night at her lab. And he always brings her tea. Which might be his not so subtle way of telling her that she's still not overcome her cold. So maybe that's the reason why he's here. He's checking on her.

But didn't he say a few days ago that this is kinda nice? And she couldn't agree more although it doesn't make any sense. She's always felt good when she was working, but now with Lance showing up at her lab and lying down on the floor, she doesn't only feel good, she feels _better_.

Which means something, given her health condition. She still manages to hide the fact that she's caught a cold to the others. Well, except for Lance, that is. Lance knows. But he hasn't spilled to Shiro, which is good. Pidge is pretty sure that Shiro would make her stay in her room until she feels better or maybe he'd even put her into one of the healing pods.

She hates both options. Staying at her room means leaving her lab, means not working for a day, maybe even a few days, and same goes for the pod. Besides, the pods freak her out a bit. While she loves the technology and loves studying how they work, it's always about them working on someone else, _not_ herself. Even imagining herself in one of these pods makes her panic. No, she doesn't want to risk that. So hiding her health condition from the others it is. Well, except for Lance, but she already thought about that, didn't she? No need to go over it again, right?

She tries to concentrate on her work again, but before she can do that, she turns her head and looks over to the corridor. It takes her a moment before she realizes what she's doing and forces her head back to her work. A few minutes later the same thing happens, and again, it takes her a moment to bring her attention back to her work. And a moment longer to realize why _exactly_ she's doing that. She's waiting for Lance. Because that's usually the time when he shows up at her lab.

Her head automatically turns towards the corridor again before she shakes her head with a frustrated groan. Really, this is so stupid! Her and Lance don't have an arrangement or anything that he _has_ to show up at her lab every night. He just said that it's nice and she agreed - which she still hopes he didn't hear because… well, _why_ exactly? Geez, she just repeated what Lance had said anyway, so it's not like she said anything embarrassing, right? It still feels that way, though. It always makes her cheeks burn. First, she thought it was because of the tea, but it happened without a steaming cup of tea as well, so she can only explain it with embarrassment. But that doesn't explain why it always makes that warm feeling spread in her chest. Really, it's weird. And makes no sense. And she hates it.

She takes a deep breath through her mouth. It's still hard for her to breathe through her nose - thank you, cold! - but that's only half the truth. She needed to take a really deep breath.

And then she lets out a groan when she realizes her head has somehow turned towards the corridor again.

The groan sends a jolt of pain to her throat and Pidge raises a hand to her throat as if that could ease the pain. Which it doesn't, of course, and she almost lets out another groan when she realizes how stupid that was. She can stop herself just in time. Her throat is still burning, though. She turns back to her laptop, but that small movement makes her head spin, and she squeezes her eyes shut.

She stays like that for a bit, hoping it will make the dizziness go away.

"Are you okay?" a voice asks, and Pidge hesitantly opens her eyes, finding Lance looking down at her, a frown on his face and a concerned look in his eyes.

Pidge gives a little nod, setting her eyes on the steaming cup on her desk which Lance must have placed there before. That's a sign how sick she must be feeling because she didn't even hear him approach, something that usually only happens to her when she's absorbed in her work. Which definitely wasn't the case here. And that's just great. She can't be sick. She has _no time_ to be sick!

Her hands reach for the cup.

"Thanks for the tea," she says, but her voice is so hoarse it sounds like it belongs to someone else.

She can only hope Lance hasn't realized. She doesn't dare to look up at him, though, because first, she doesn't like the concerned look on his face, and second, she doesn't want to find out if he's realized or not.

"Pidge." Lance's voice is low, but has an edge to it. She still refuses to look up.

"Pidge," he says a little more loudly, a little more urgently, and Pidge carefully lifts her gaze.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

She nods, not risking to speak up again. She can't trust her voice. Or her burning throat. Instead, she takes a sip of her tea. It eases the pain in her throat a bit, but it's not enough.

When she moves the cup from her lips, Lance is still looking at her, so she takes a long gulp. She really does _not_ want to have to speak again. Lance keeps looking at her with that concerned look on his face, so she keeps drinking her tea.

"You sure you're okay?" Lance asks, and Pidge nods again. And for good measure she lifts the cup to her lips again - and realizes that it's empty. So she lets her hands sink again, avoiding Lance's gaze all the time.

"Yeah, not buying it," he says, and Pidge watches how he wrenches the cup from her fingers.

She just shrugs and turns her attention back to her computer. But the code seems to shift in front of her eyes, the signs dancing. She feels the urge to close her eyes again, but she keeps them open. She doesn't want to give Lance any more proof that she's not okay.

"Pidge," Lance says again, his voice even more urgent now, but Pidge doesn't want to look away from the code on her screen, although the signs are still dancing and making her feel dizzier than ever before.

Suddenly, there's a hand, Lance's hand, on her laptop and closing it shut.

Pidge opens her mouth to protest, but then remembers the weird state her voice is in right now and closes her mouth again with a snap. She settles for just glaring at Lance, though. He looks at her with concerned eyes again, but there's something else in his look, something she can't really place.

He shoves the laptop out of her reach and shifts over so he's sitting right in front of her. Pidge raises her arm in a meager attempt to reach her laptop, but lets it sink again almost immediately when she realizes her arms are just too short. She folds her arms over her chest and adds more anger to her glare.

"So, you're okay?" Lance asks.

Pidge nods.

"Then just say so," Lance goes on. "Say, 'Lance, I'm okay', and I am going to let you work for as long as you want to."

More anger makes it into Pidge's glare, but she doesn't say anything.

"Well?" Lance asks, raising his brow. He folds his arms over his chest, mimicking Pidge's posture.

Pidge just twists her mouth in response.

"Piiiiiiiiiidge," Lance drawls, a warning in his voice, and he leans in closer. Pidge can feel his warm breath on her face, and it makes her throat tighten and her face go hot which, of course, is because she has a sore throat and now is probably growing a fever, too. Which is not good, but it's the only logical explanation. Or the only one she's willing to accept.

She takes a deep breath.

"La-," she begins, but breaks off, partly because it sends another jolt of pain to her throat and partly because it is so difficult to breathe with Lance's face that close. Which she has no explanation for at all.

She takes another deep breath.

"Lance … I'm … okay," she says, her voice failing two times during that short sentence, which leads to little breaks. She bites down on her lower lip when she's done. There's no way Lance could have missed that. Or the fact that her voice sounds so hoarse and just _wrong_.

Lance twists his mouth and shakes his head.

"Yeah, as I said, not buying it," he says before he unfolds his arms and slides down from the desk. The movement makes Pidge's office chair roll backwards a bit and she would have yelped if her voice had been working properly.

And what Lance does next makes her heart skip a beat. He grabs her, lifts her up and throws her over his shoulder.

"Lance, what-," she manages to say before her voice fails again.

"You need some rest," Lance says as if that'd explain everything, and then he sets into motion. It takes Pidge a few moments to realize he's headed for the paladins' rooms.

"Lance." His name should have come out as a warning, angry shout, but what leaves her mouth is barely more than a whisper. She starts banging at his back with her fists and tries her best to struggle, but after a few moments she's so exhausted, she gives up. Lance doesn't seem to care anyway.

He stops in front of her room, and Pidge wonders how he wants to open the door. She always locks her room. He doesn't, though, instead he shifts her in his arms until he's holding her bridal style.

"There," he says, nodding towards the control panel next to her door. "Unlock it."

Pidge just glares at him. He holds her gaze for a few moments, then shrugs.

"Okay, then I'll bring you to my room," he says, already turning.

"No!" Pidge protests, pleased that her voice comes out a little louder this time.

Lance stops, and Pidge gives him another glare before she unlocks her door.

"There you go!" Lance says and carries her inside. He walks over to her bed and lets her slide down. She's barely hit the mattress when Lance leans down to remove her shoes. His movements seem practiced, and Pidge remembers that he has younger siblings. This makes sense. He probably brought them to bed back on earth. And helped them get their shoes off or get dressed. She isn't sure she likes that he treats her like one of his siblings, though.

Lance lets her shoes fall to the floor, then he leans over and Pidge holds her breath when his face is so close to her. But he just grabs the blanket and lifts it.

Pidge knows what he wants her to do, but she so not wants to rest. So she just glares at him again and twists her mouth.

Lance sighs. "You need to rest, Pidge," he says. "When was the last time you had a good night's sleep?"

Truth is, Pidge can't remember, but she doesn't want to sleep now.

"You are sick, and believe me, some tea and a good night's sleep do wonders, so come on, Pidge, please?"

She just shakes her head, crossing her arms over her chest to emphasize her defiant posture.

The next thing she knows is that Lance pushes and shifts her body until she's lying on her mattress, her head resting on her pillow. Lance covers her with the blanket. She's really not sure how he managed that. She thinks she tried to fight him off, but she isn't sure if her fighting is any good at the moment or if he's just used to tucking in an unwilling child, but fact is, she's tucked in now. It feels nice and warm, but she refuses to give in that easily. She has work to do! So she sends another glare in Lance's direction. He replies with a shrug.

"You need to rest," he says. It's not that Pidge doesn't believe him, it's just that she has _work to do!_

Pidge sighs, deciding to go with it for the moment and sneak back to her lab once Lance has left. Wouldn't take long because Lance is already turning off the lights.

She waits for him to wish her a good night and leave, but instead, he stays. Pidge's eyes need a moment to adjust to the darkness, but then they widen in surprise as she watches how Lance kicks off his shoes. And they widen even more when Lance lies down in bed next to her.

"Wha-," she begins, but words fail her. Not to mention that her voice is still not working properly. She clears her throat which seems to help a bit.

"What are you doing?" she asks, her voice so low and hoarse she isn't sure Lance can even hear or understand her.

"Someone needs to make sure you stay in bed," he replies. "Or you might sneak off to your work again."

Pidge opens her mouth to protest, but she doesn't know what to say. That was exactly what she had planned. She doesn't like that she's so easy to read.

Then Lance grabs her hand, entangling their fingers, and Pidge's eyes widen even more. She's afraid they might pop out of her head. Which, technically speaking, isn't possible, but still.

"For reassurance," Lance says with a smile before he turns his head towards the ceiling, sliding his free hand under his head and closing his eyes.

"Good night, Pidge!" he says.

"Good night, Lance," Pidge replies.

She hopes that his grip on her hand might loosen as soon as he falls asleep so she can sneak away, but it doesn't. Or maybe he isn't asleep yet, who knows? Pidge waits for a little longer, but Lance's grip on her hand is still as firm as before.

With a sigh Pidge gives in, shifting so she's in a comfortable position, and closes her eyes.

This isn't so bad, she decides. Having Lance this close feels nice, actually, not weird or anything. Okay, maybe a bit weird, but it feels nice, too, especially after her racing heart finally has calmed down. His hand feels warm and soothing, and his calm breaths have a lulling effect on her.

Maybe she can sleep for an hour or so, Pidge thinks, before she drifts off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

When Pidge wakes, there is this pleasant warmth. It's everywhere - in her body, on her skin, in the air. It feels nice. And right. She realizes she hasn't felt like that in a very long time, not since the Kerberos-mission failed. She expects this thought to make her flinch, to make her heart ache, but it doesn't happen. Yes, the thought is there, this terrible memory, but it can't really reach her. Not through this bubble of warmth that has built around her. And that's strange.

To test the abilities of this bubble, Pidge thinks of Matt. Thinking of her brother has always made her heart ache, but again, it doesn't happen. All the thoughts of Matt are pleasant ones, memories of their childhood, of them playing together, of him hugging her. It makes no sense.

She could crack her eyes open now, letting herself leave this pleasant state, but Pidge refuses to do so yet. For the first time in ages Pidge feels like she has actually slept and dreamed of beautiful and nice things. She feels _rested_. And it has been so long since she's felt rested. For a very long time sleep has only been something that she needed to give in to when fatigue took over. It's been something that has kept her from working. But now she doesn't even want to fully wake up.

She feels so right this moment, so safe. No, even more than that. Pidge feels _at home_.

Which is weird because she's on an alien spaceship, galaxies away from home.

And she doesn't care. She just wants to bask in this pleasant feeling a bit longer, this warmth, this feeling of being at home.

But Pidge can't stay in this state forever. Her brain has always been a workaholic, and it's now insisting on its rights to think, to _actually_ think. To _work_. Pidge tries to keep it at bay for a bit longer and manages for a few more moments, but then her brain bombards her with thoughts of her work, and Pidge gives in. With a sigh, she carefully cracks her eyes open.

It's still dark, but that's nothing new around here. Dawn doesn't exist in space. And as long as she doesn't turn on the lights, it's going to stay night in her room. Pidge is fine with it as long as it's not pitch-black in her room, but pitch-black is something else that doesn't really happen on this ship. There's always some light somewhere, very, very dim sometimes, but it's there, sometimes caused by some glowing technology, and sometimes, Pidge doesn't even know where it comes from. She has figuring this out on her to do-list, but there are so many more important things to do right now.

Slowly, her senses start working again, and Pidge realizes something. Her pillow doesn't feel like her pillow. Yes, her pillow usually is warm, but not _that_ warm. And then Pidge hears it. Calm breaths that aren't hers.

Her eyes widen in shock and she lifts her head to look at Lance's sleeping face. Her brain, her amazing brain, immediately kicks in with the memories of last night, and Pidge has never been more grateful for the way her brain works. Because without it, this would be really weird. Okay, it still looks weird, but at least she remembers now what happened.

Lance brought her to her room last night, telling her that she had to rest because she wasn't well. She remembers the dizzy feeling, the Galra signs dancing before her eyes, her throat burning with pain. She carefully moves one hand to her throat, realizing that the terrible pain has dampened down so much, she thinks that some more tea during breakfast could actually fix this. And breathing is a lot easier, too.

So Lance was right. Tea and a good night's sleep _really_ do wonders.

Maybe she should thank him for that. But she still doesn't like that he tucked her in like an unwilling child. Although, yes, the way she acted was pretty close to an unwilling child, now that she thought of it, but still.

And all these thoughts don't get her out of this situation now. She has absolutely no idea what she's supposed to do now. Wake Lance up? Sneak out of bed?

She settles for the second option, slowly lifting her body. But then she feels Lance's hand on her back, and she freezes.

Okay, if she remembers correctly - which she's pretty sure she does - they ended up falling asleep in her bed side by side, she under her blanket and Lance next to her, and they were only holding hands. So in the course of the night they must have gone from holding hands to cuddling up. And that's the reason why her head was resting on his chest and why he has his arms around her. That's the reason, yes, but it doesn't explain anything.

 _Why_ would she and Lance cuddle up? He was just holding her hand for reassurance to keep her from sneaking back to her lab. So why would they _cuddle up!?_

Her amazing brain fails to come up with an explanation for that. It wasn't cold or anything last night, it's _never_ cold on this ship, so when they didn't cuddle up to keep each other warm, _why_ would they do that?

She has no idea, absolutely no idea, and she hates it. She needs to get out of this situation. She lifts her body a little more, hoping that Lance's hand will slide from her back, but it doesn't.

Instead, his hand adds more pressure to her back, pushing her closer to him. Suddenly, her face is so close to Lance's that Pidge holds her breath. She tries to shift away a bit, but Lance's hand slides up her spine, coming to rest on the back of her head. Pidge doesn't know what to do so she holds still. Suddenly, Lance lifts his head and presses his lips to hers. Pidge's heart skips a beat, and on a side note she realizes how warm and soft his lips are.

But as soon as it happened, it stops again, as Lance lets his head sink back on the pillow, his hand falling from the back of her head and onto the mattress. And then he opens his eyes and looks at her.

"Hey," he says, his voice a little hoarse from sleep. "How are you feeling?"

He smiles at her, but then his smile is replaced by a frown and a concerned look, and he sits up, examining her face a little closer.

"Your cheeks are red," he declares, his voice sounding normal again, and Pidge realizes that this must be the reason why her cheeks feel so hot.

"Have you caught a fever?" Lance asks, and Pidge shakes her head although she isn't quite sure. Maybe she has caught a fever, maybe she's just blushing, who knows?

Lance moves his hand to her forehead, his gentle touch making her cheeks heat up even more.

"Hm," he mumbles, removing his hand from her forehead again. "Doesn't seem like it."

So, blushing it is, Pidge realizes, but she isn't sure she likes it. Although she is glad she didn't catch a fever.

"So, are you feeling better?" Lance asks, and Pidge replies with another nod, but it only makes him twist his mouth.

"Then say something," he commands.

' _You just kissed me!'_ are the first words that make it to Pidge's tongue, followed by ' _Why are you acting like nothing happened?!'_ , but she can stop them before they slip from her lips.

If Lance is acting like nothing happened that's probably because nothing happened. Well, not that _really_ nothing happened. The kiss felt too real and Pidge for sure was awake, so yes, he did kiss her. But he probably doesn't remember. He still was asleep after all. So Pidge decides to act like nothing happened as well, although her cheeks are still way too hot and she can still recall the feeling of Lance's lips on hers.

"Pidge?" Lance asks, and Pidge realizes that instead of not saying the words that made it to her tongue first, she hasn't said anything at all.

"Good morning," she says.

Lance smiles. "Good morning," he replies, nodding his head. "You for sure sound better."

"Good," Pidge replies, returning his smile, but the corners of her mouth go up so much more than she intended, so she's probably grinning like an idiot right now. Which, again, makes no sense, but so many things make no sense right now that Pidge decides to let it pass. Lance doesn't seem to notice anyway.

"Great!" he says as he gets up and stretches his body. Pidge just watches him.

When he's done, he turns to look back at Pidge. "I'll go back to my room now before anyone catches me coming out of your room. Might look a little weird."

Pidge just nods in agreement. And then Lance starts moving towards the door, and it swings open. He pokes his head out and then takes a step out of her room.

"Lance?" Pidge hears a voice from outside her room, a familiar voice, _Shiro's_ voice, and her breath catches in her throat. "Why are you coming out of Pidge's room?"

 _Uh-oh..._


	6. Chapter 6

Pidge is still holding her breath as her brain works through several likely scenarios to figure what Lance could say.

And she isn't happy with her options.

If Lance tells Shiro the truth - that he forced her to get some sleep because she's sick - their leader would make sure that she's totally recovered before he even lets her near her lab again.

If Lance sticks close to the truth, it would still mean that he says he checked on her because she's sick.

And she doesn't even want to _think_ about the other explanations Lance's brain could come up with. The one option that makes it to her brain and maybe, just _maybe_ is triggered by Lance kissing her when he was still asleep makes her blush. She shakes her head a bit to get rid of this thought and to cool her cheeks a bit.

But that doesn't get her out of this dilemma. Whatever Lance is about to say, it's going to end bad for her. Bad as in having to stay in her room for a few days. Or ending up in a healing pod.

But maybe she can do something, like … like … _Argh!_ She has no explanation _why_ Lance could leave her room in the morning that wouldn't get her - or him - into trouble!

In sheer desperation she opens her mouth, hoping that a logical, not-getting-them-into-trouble explanation would just fall out. Of course nothing happens and Pidge closes her mouth again.

She looks at Lance's back, her eyes wide, her throat tightening as she feels the panic rise in her chest. Lance shifts a bit and Pidge knows that he's about to speak up. In a few seconds Shiro will know that she's sick and she'd be banned from her lab, from her _work_ for who knows how long!

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Lance says, his voice low, and Pidge leans a bit forward to understand what he says after that.

"She's finally getting some sleep," Lance goes on and Pidge braces herself for what's coming next.

"I found her sound asleep in her lab last night and brought her to her room."

 _What?_ Pidge's eyes widen in surprise.

"I think we should let her sleep for a few more hours. I mean, come on, Shiro, you must have seen the bags under her eyes!" And with that Lance steps out of her room, the door slides shut, and Pidge can't hear the rest of the conversation.

She sits there, blinking and trying to put together what just happened. It takes her a few moments to realize that she's supposed to be asleep, and she lets herself fall back on the mattress and closes her eyes. It's still possible that Shiro might show up to check on her, so she better be prepared.

However, she isn't tired, not at all, so she thinks about what has happened. Lance helped her out. Again. First, he made sure she got some much-needed sleep, and second, he came up with a logical explanation that didn't lead to her having to stay in her room for a few days or ending up in a healing pod. No, she only has to stay in her room for a few more hours. So, those are two things she should thank him for. But the more she thinks about it, the more she realizes that a simple thank-you is not enough. She needs more than that.

So what does Lance like? Pidge wracks her brain. Lance likes flirting and pretty girls. Yes, he _really_ likes flirting and pretty girls. So why on earth did he kiss _her!?_ She isn't pretty and Lance for sure doesn't flirt with her. He probably doesn't even _think_ of flirting with her because she's just a friend and not pretty at all! Yes, he was sleeping and didn't know what he was doing, but that is still no explanation for why would he kiss _her_.

Pidge lets out a frustrated groan. She doesn't know! She, Pidge, the brainiac, the genius, doesn't _know!_

She searches her brain for a logical reason and can't find any.

Luckily, she has her eyes closed, because suddenly her door slides open.

"Pidge? Are you awake?" Shiro asks lowly, carefully, and Pidge is somehow disappointed and relieved at the same time that it's not Lance, and that really is a weird feeling. But she can't think about that now. She must act as if she has been sleeping for a few hours.

Oh gosh. She spent _hours_ thinking about why Lance would kiss her! It's a good thing she has to act as if she's just waking up or she would have slapped her hand against her forehead.

"Shiro?" she asks, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?"

"Noon," Shiro replies, and Pidge opens her eyes to watch as he raises his hands in a calming gesture. "And no worries, it's fine. No training for you today. Just get up and eat something. If you're still tired you can go right back to sleep after that. And if not, you can do whatever you want."

"Like working in my lab?" Pidge asks a little bit too excitedly, and Shiro chuckles.

"Good to see you're fine," he says, and Pidge smiles at him.

* * *

Later that day, Pidge is back in her lab in Green's hangar and tries to go back to decrypting that Galra-code. She's making better progress than the night before, but she's still not back to her old self. The tea she had for her very late breakfast didn't fix her sore throat completely, so it's still hurting a bit. And if that weren't enough, her thoughts tend to drift towards a certain kiss. Okay, not really the kiss, more like an explanation for it. That's only half the truth. Her thoughts drift towards the kiss, too, but she quickly directs them towards finding an explanation. And when she can't find any, she goes back to decrypting some Galra-code until her thoughts drift towards the kiss again and so on.

She's just directed her thoughts back to the Galra-code when someone enters the lab. Pidge is pretty sure it's Shiro checking on her. Again. He's done that at least three times since she started working. Which is a really Shiro-thing to do.

So she turns around with a smile wanting to tell him that she's fine and not tired at all, but the words get stuck in her throat when she sets eyes on Lance. He's holding a cup of tea in his hand.

"Lance!" she says quickly. "You're early!" Really, he is. It's not even close to the time when he usually shows up. And she didn't expect him to show up. She thought after spending all night in her bed and cuddling with her - which she shouldn't be thinking about right now - he wouldn't come.

Lance chuckles with a little shake of his head. "You've forgotten the time again," he says as he walks over and places the cup on her desk.

"Really?" she asks.

"Really. It's already night," Lance replies as he slides out of his jacket. As always, he balls it up before he lies down on the floor and shoves it under his head.

"Oh," Pidge mumbles, her eyes still on his face.

"Hm?" Lance says as he looks back at her, and Pidge realizes that she is staring at him.

"I … uhm … wanted to thank you," she says. "For your help," she adds quickly when she realizes that he could misunderstand that. Not that he remembers the kiss or anything, but better safe than sorry. "So … uhm … thank you!"

"Don't mention it," Lance replies. "I know how much you hate not being able to work."

"That's not what I meant," Pidge says. "I meant thanks for everything. I really needed some sleep, I guess."

"Yeah, you did."

He smiles at her and she returns the smile, tearing her eyes away too quickly when she realizes she's staring again.

"Besides, that was pretty smart what you said to Shiro," she says, only realizing just now how smart that actually was. Smarter than all the things she was able to come up with. Gosh, what is _wrong_ with her!? She's supposed to be smarter than him. The urge to slap her hand against her forehead is there again, but she fights it down because Lance could still be watching her.

"I have my moments," Lance says and Pidge risks a glance at him. He's smiling so proudly as he turns his head towards the ceiling and closes his eyes, it makes her want to giggle. But she fights that down, too.

After a while she realizes that she's staring at his face again, but that's fine. He has his eyes closed and is probably already asleep.

And then it hits her. Lance was _asleep_ , so he was _dreaming_ , probably dreaming of a pretty girl, and that's why he kissed her! Now everything makes sense!

Pidge lets out a sigh of relief. He didn't mean to kiss _her_ , he was just _dreaming!_ She almost laughs, but she can hold it back just in time when she realizes it could wake Lance.

The more she thinks about it, the more she realizes how much she needs more sleep. Boy, it took her way too long to figure this out. For Pete's sake, she's Pidge, the brainiac, the genius!

She makes a mental note to go to bed a bit earlier before she turns her attention back to the Galra-code.

But after a few moments she looks back at Lance. She still needs something special as a thank-you gift for him. And just like that, she knows what she needs to do.

With a smile she turns back to the Galra-code. Maybe she doesn't need more sleep after all.


	7. Chapter 7

It's one thing to figure out what to give Lance as a thank-you gift. And it's a totally different thing to actually get it done. And to realize that she can't do it alone - well, that's something else entirely. But she has reached that point now. And she does _not_ like it!

She's spent all morning trying to get the Mercury Gameflux Two running, but she doesn't seem able to get it done on her own. She's managed to power it up, but that's pretty much it. And now she's stuck. Great, just _great!_

Pidge lets out a sigh and wipes her hand over her forehead. This is so frustrating! She wanted to get it running today so she can show it to Lance after training. Heck, she even got up extra early to work on it! Which, of course, messed with her sleeping schedule. Again. But hey, hadn't she just figured out that she doesn't need that much sleep? She only needs to make sure to sleep in every few weeks, and problem solved! Or so she hopes.

She looks down at the gaming console on the floor of her room. She decided to work here because it would be too easy for Lance to sneak up on her in the lab, and this is supposed to be a surprise. Besides, considering the collection of things gathered on her floor - the gadgets, the laptops, heck, even the trash buddies she made back when she was stranded! - it would be difficult for Lance to make out what exactly she's working on right now even if he came here. Pidge has never been more relieved to keep her things in such a mess. That's the good thing about being out in space. She doesn't have to keep her room nice and tidy as her mom forced her to do back on Earth. Although, of course, that's not such a bad thing. If tidying up her room would get her to see her mom again sooner, she'd clean this room up right now. But that's not going to end this war, and it's not going to change anything. Pidge feels her heart squeeze as the thought of her mom sinks in, and she pushes it away.

When she raises her eyes, she looks directly at the trash-buddy-version she made of Lance. That's the other good thing about the mess in her room. When Lance brought her here, he didn't even see it. Or one of the other trash buddies. So, a little mess - or in her case a big one - for sure has some advantages.

Pidge looks a little closer at trash buddy-Lance and imagines it to actually be Lance and how he sets on the working Mercury Gameflux Two. Oh, he'll be so happy! And excited! And he'll smile one of his big, warm smiles! Pidge's heart starts beating a little faster at this thought. Which makes no sense. She's seen Lance smile so often, why would imagining him smiling _now_ would make her heart speed up?

Pidge decides it must be one of these emotional things she hasn't quite figured out (yet?), and lowers her eyes to the gaming console again. She gently lets her hand glide over the surface. Once she gets this running, she and Lance could play videogames together. Which, of course, wasn't her primary motivation to give the console to Lance. No, no, this isn't about getting it running so _she_ can play videogames, too. And neither is it about her and Lance playing videogames _together_. No, this is about Lance and thanking him for all the things he's done for her! The rest is just a bonus. Yes, that's what it is. And that's _all_ there is to it.

Pidge heaves another sigh. Well, thinking about that now doesn't change anything about the fact that she's stuck and that she needs help, whether she likes it or not. And she doesn't like it, of course. With a little shake of her head she gets to her feet.

* * *

"Soooooo," Hunk drawls, looking up from the adapter he's working on to make the console suitable for Altean technology. Somehow, the way he looks at her and the way his mouth curls into a smirk sends a shiver down Pidge's spine.

"Is this for Lance?" Hunk goes on.

"No!" Pidge replies a little too quickly and a little too loudly, and she realizes the moment the word has left her mouth. And she realizes that Hunk isn't going to buy that, too. After all, he was there when Pidge and Lance settled in, both of them buzzing with joy, to start their first game session with the Mercury Gameflux Two, and he saw how Pidge almost had a mental breakdown when she realized she can't plug the console in _anywhere_ on the ship and how bummed Lance was about it, and heck, he even comforted them both! So she had to do something about that.

"W-well, not _just_ for Lance," she adds. "It's for Lance _and_ me. S-so we can play together." Her eyes widen when she notices that her choice of words could give Hunk more teasing material. "Play computer games, that is!" she adds, and it turns out a little too loudly again.

Hunk scrutinizes her face and twists his mouth a little. Then he just goes back to working at the adapter with a little nod.

Pidge releases the breath she's been holding in a silent sigh.

Then Hunk looks up from the adapter again, and it hits Pidge that this has just been too easy.

"Hey, when Lance carried you back to your room, did he carry you bridal style or over his shoulder?" He chuckles. "I bet it was bridal style."

Pidge's cheeks heat up and she can stop herself just in time not to answer with 'no' too quickly and too loudly again.

"I-I don't know!" she says, and while it's not too quickly, it's still a little too loudly. "I was sleeping!" she adds in a normal voice. Or almost normal voice.

It's a good thing she thought of Lance's excuse that he found her asleep in her lab late at night and brought her to her room. And as far as she knows that's the version everyone else knows. But she can't help to blush a bit more when she thinks of how Lance shifted her in his arms so she could unlock the door, and she ended up bridal style.

"Awwwww, are you blushing?" Hunk asks. "You're blushing! That's soooooo cuuuuuuute!"

"Well, anyone would blush out of sheer anger when you assume something like _that!_ " Pidge says as she lowers her gaze to the power converter she's working on.

"But Piiiiiiidge, that doesn't look like an _angry_ blush!"

Angry blush or not, this makes the anger rise in Pidge's body, but she manages to fight it down. She needs Hunk's help. And he means no harm. He's just teasing. And Hunk _loves_ teasing.

She just needs to calm down and concentrate on her work, then Hunk's teasing wouldn't bother her that much. Maybe she should think of Lance's face when she's showing him the working console.

And it works. She thinks of Lance's overwhelmed face, and all that matters is the converter right in front of her. She feels a warmth spreading in her chest, and she can't even hear Hunk's teasing comments anymore.

"Awwwww, now you're blushing _and_ smiling! How cute is that!? Let me take a picture! Lance needs to see this!"

Okay, she heard that.

Would the converter be damaged a lot if it _accidentally_ collided with Hunk's face?


	8. Chapter 8

_So did you all enjoy the 6th season? I for sure did! It was amazing! But then I needed to water my Plance, so here's a new chapter of Codes and Emotions. Hope you'll like it! ^^_ _And many thanks and hugs to hailqiqi for her amazing beta-work! You rock, girl! :)_

* * *

"Pidge! This… that's…," Lance stammers. "It's… It's…," he tries again, pointing at the gadgets on the floor, then at the screen, before his voice fails once more.

Pidge snickers silently at the sight of Lance with his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide as dinner plates.

For a second, Lance stands completely still, and the only thing Pidge can hear is the title music of _Killbot Phantasm 1_.

Yes, she and Hunk had done it. In the end, they had needed more than one converter to make the game work, and Pidge had had to constantly fight the urge to grab the nearest component and fling it into Hunk's face because he kept teasing her about Lance. But she had managed, somehow, and they had got the game running. That's all that mattered back then and that's all that matters now that Lance is standing here in his room, frozen with his eyes wide and his mouth hanging agape.

Pidge is somehow proud of herself that she got everything set up while Lance was hitting the training deck. It turns out it's a good thing he never locks his door after all.

After a while, she's starting to wonder if he's okay. She isn't sure how long someone should stay frozen like that. He seems to be breathing at least.

"Amazing!" Lance snaps out of it the exact moment Pidge wants to address him, and it makes her jump a little.

"Pidge, this is amazing!" Lance repeats as he turns towards her, and the next thing she knows is Lance pulling her into a hug, lifting her up and spinning around a few times, his laughter ringing in her ears. When he places her back on the ground Pidge feels dizzy and her cheeks are hot, which is weird at first, and then makes total sense because being whirled around would definitely lead to more blood flowing to the head, right? Totally logical, totally natural. Of course.

Lance rushes over to the screen, settles down on the floor and grabs a controller. Pidge just watches him. He looks so happy, so absolutely happy, it brings a smile to her face. Which is totally logical, totally natural, too, because Lance is her friend, and of course seeing him happy would make her smile.

She slowly realizes that something must be wrong when Lance turns to look at her with, his brows furrowed. She just isn't sure what this something could be.

"Pidge?" he asks, the look on his face growing even more concerned.

"Yes?" she asks.

Lance picks up the second controller and waves it around. "Wanna play?"

It's the moment Pidge realizes that she was staring at him. Another totally logical, totally natural thing because he is her friend and as a friend, she just likes to watch him when he's happy. But sure, when there's a task at hand - a task like playing _Killbot Phantasm 1_ \- it must seem weird.

"Totally!" she calls out a little too loudly and rushes over to join Lance on the floor. She's in such a hurry she almost stumbles over her own feet, but manages to regain her balance just in time before she flops down next to Lance.

He laughs a little at that, a warm laugh, that makes Pidge's cheeks heat up again. Which makes sense, totally logical, totally natural, because she just made a fool of herself. What doesn't make sense is the warmth she's feeling in her heart right now.

She decides to ignore it and grips the controller a little tighter before she turns towards the screen.

"Prepare to get your butt kicked!" she calls out with as much confidence as she can muster. And to be honest, it's more than she thought she'd manage.

"Ah, you wish!" Lance returns, just as confident.

* * *

Pidge smirks. Lance walked right into her trap. Again. Her smirk deepens as she gets ready to press the button to send Lance's character to the happy digital hunting grounds.

"And you lose ag-," she begins, but all of a sudden, her vision is blocked because Lance leans to the side and all she can see is Lance's back.

"Hey!" she protests. "That's cheating!" She jumps to her feet, pressing buttons like crazy, hoping she won't lose the advantage she had just a moment ago.

"No, it's not!" Lance responds as he jumps to his feet, too, so he can block Pidge's view again. "I'm just… uhm…"

"Cheating!" Pidge finishes his sentence as she manages to get around Lance and finally sees the screen again.

"Maybe!" Lance calls out, stretching his arms to the side to block Pidge's eyes.

"Argh!" Pidge yells before she just kicks Lance's shin.

"Ouch! Unfair!"

"No, it's not!" she replies, weaseling her way in front of Lance. He pushes her to the side, and, before long, their game has turned into a fight of blocking each other's view from the screen.

Only when Pidge tries to jump in front of Lance does she realize that her feet were entangled in the myriad cables on the floor.

"Ah!" she cries out, sending her controller flying when she tries to regain her balance, but it's no use. Pidge closes her eyes and braces herself for a rather painful, head-first meeting with the floor when she suddenly feels strong arms around her waist and is jerked backwards. She collides with something and then she's falling again, but the landing isn't painful at all.

Carefully, she opens her eyes to check what just happened, and finds herself lying on top of Lance. She pieces together the events and realizes that Lance must have been trying to catch her when she was falling, but tripped because his feet were caught in the cables too so instead he ended up pulling her back against him and dragging her to the floor with him, which is why she landed on him and not the hard floor. He, on the other hand, must have taken the brunt of the impact, especially since his arms are still wrapped around her.

"Ow…," Lance groans, as if to confirm what she just realized.

Pidge turns her head to get a better look at him, but it doesn't really work, so she turns her whole body in his arms until they are face to face.

Somewhere in the background she can hear the game over tune from _Killbot Phantasm 1_ , but it doesn't matter.

"You okay?" she asks.

Lance lifts his head and looks at her. "I … think so," he says, his voice somehow low.

"Thanks for the catch," she says, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"You're welcome," Lance replies just as silently.

And then he lifts his head even more, bringing his face closer to Pidge's and her eyes widen when she realizes what he's intending to do.

There are two things Pidge can think of doing right now - playfully punching Lance's chest to stop him or to ask him what he's doing to stop him. And she does neither. Instead she just waits until she can feel Lance's lips on hers. She expects Lance to realize his mistake and withdraw, but he doesn't. She expects her brain to kick in and make her pull away, but it doesn't. She just gives in to the feeling. She doesn't know how long they stay like this, but neither of them breaks the kiss. At some point, Lance removes one arm from around her to prop himself up on an elbow, thus adding more pressure to his lips on hers. And still, Pidge doesn't pull away. She isn't totally sure of what she's supposed to do now, but out of instinct, she parts her lips and then…

...the alarm goes off.

They jump apart, and it's a miracle to Pidge how they manage to get to their feet so quickly without falling again because their feet are _still_ stuck in the cables. Not that it mattered a few moments ago, but still.

"The alarm!" Pidge calls out, just to have something to say. As if the alarm weren't loud enough.

"Y-Yeah!" Lance replies.

They manage to get their feet free in no time, and then they burst out of Lance's room on their way to their hangars.

Pidge is glad that she reaches Green before her brain can process what just happened. Okay, she knows that it was a kiss, but why? And …

"The Castle is under attack!" she hears Coran's voice over intercom.

She takes a deep breath and pushes all inappropriate thoughts of a probably very inappropriate kiss as far away as she can.

"Let's hit it, girl!" she says to her lion, and Green roars in agreement.


End file.
